In London regular Toy soldier fairs take place which brings together many toy soldier adult collectors and sellers together. At these London shows you often find sellers who also sell other types of models including model animals and in particular old Elastolin or Britains model animals and accessories.

Anyway I attended on Saturday 6 June 2015 and was able to pick up some great Britains zoo animals. However, I came across a man who is based in the North of England who creates and sells a variety of tree models and accessories to help collectors create miniature dioramas. I was shocked at the fantastic quality of all his trees and plants as they are extremely detailed and superb. He even creates fantastic clumps of elephant grass and other grasses in different shades and also has a large grass like mat all of which fit and work well with our model animals. Some trees may be slightly smaller in scale but many are sold in various sizes. The data palm models caught my eye as these are incredibly detailed and come in various sizes all of which would be perfect for our animal collections. The tallest palm tree is priced just under £27.00 so it is not cheap but this would be a one off purchase and would certainly add to my collection of trees from the major brands.

All of his models are handmade only by him and I believe he would also be able to make models to order in the same way our fellow collectors (Ana, Miguel, Joan, Noemi, Harriet) have created limited editions models for us.

Anyway I attach some images from the toy fair and of his stand – the man is named John Gittins and his website can be accessed here: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

The main reason for bringing this to your attention is that I know some of you are interested in good quality, good sized plants and accessories that help create your dioramas and of all the ready-made products I have seen out there I find these to be the best. I am getting that Palm tree! The palm trees perfectly match Schleich scale models.

For me this is an exciting find and hence why I wanted to share this with you.